An alcoholic, a prescription drug addict and Dutch man try to climb a mountain.

So I've been a bit behind with the auld blog. So I'm skipping ahead a bit.   Basically did the salt flat tour with the group I crossed the border with.  Me and rodger were in a Jeep with Nate dog aka the throat and Mia his girlfriend(we nicknamed nates the throat because he always had a sore throat and wore a neck scarf so we had the craic and took the piss about it). Nate dog if your reading I hope your throat is better and all is well ixn Slovenia:-).

Breda, mark,Géraldine and James were in the other Jeep and we met everywhere along the way.  Anyway we all had a lot of fun and became really good friends. The salt flat tour was amazing and something I will never forget.  After it me,  rodger, Géraldine, mark,breda and James all got a taxi to potosi which is the highest City in the world. Over 4000m above sea level which also made it very hard to breath even walking up the stairs. Here we stayed in a hostel that remidnded me of the hotel from the shining. We basically ran the place and got drunk and cooked in the kitchen most nights.  Here is where we went to the llama sacrafice and got drunk with all the miners and basically had the craic.
After that we got a taxi to sucre. The taxi man drove on the wrong side of the road and hit a dog while the song lady in red played on the radio. It was all a little mental but hilarious at the same time.

In sucre we did a trek to some Dinosaur foot prints which was cool and all got drunk  together a bit more:-) loads of stuff happened in between but I'm trying to speed this up.

Next stop la paz. It was Rodgers birthday so we organised a party and a cake and we all chipped in and bought him death Road for his birthday. That night we all went for dinner and went out to celebrate the kid's birthday.

Death Road was unbelievable and not dangerous unless you take your eyes off the road (last person to die on the road was a Japanese tourist who was trying to take a photo of her boyfriend and cycled straight over the edge). Everyone says they will go really slow down the road but after about five minutes you bomb it down and forget all about how dangerous it is.  Plus you can't really go slow because your down hill mountain biking.

Anyway after death Road there was an anniversary party in our hostel. Here we bumped into jesus.  Jesus was a Dutch guy we met on the walking tour of la paz.  I couldn't say his Dutch name and he looked like jesus so I called him that and the name stuck.  We all got drunk again to celebrate death Road and jesus arriving at our hostel.

The next day really hungover is when we made a pretty retarded decision.  Myself Rodger and jesus wanted to do something different in la paz. Not the same jungle trek that most people so we thought Hey let's trek up a mountain to 6000m above sea level. It is apparently the easiest one in the world. To put it into perspective mount kilamanjaro is 5985m above sea level but technically it is obviously way harder.

So we thought Hey how hard can it be let's trek up hyuana potosi mountain.  So we went into the tour office in bits hungover and booked it.  Obviously they told us that all equipment was provided and that we didn't need our own hiking boots. So jesus and Rodge were like grand because they had converse on.  Rodger actually had hiking boots but didn't bring them because they said they would provide them. ... they didn't...Never believe a Bolivian.

The next day we went to get fitted with the equipment like jackets, crampons and a fucking ice pick. The  equipment was fairly shoddy and threy were literally just  throwing helmets and shit at us.  Anyway I was still a bit fucked from the party the night before last and at this point i started to think what the fuck am I doing.  But I got on with it and thought Ah sure it won't be two bad they won't just let us climb up a mountain without harnesses or being attached to something by rope.

So we all got in the van and hit base camp one. I think this was at 4400m above sea level.  We met the rest of the group and jesus introduced us a me a prescription drug addict, himself an alcoholic and Rodger as the Dutch man.  Everyone laughed but jesus wasn't joking.  The others in the group talked about other mountains they had climbed and again at this point we should have thought what the fuck were we doing. There is only fucking hills in Ireland and the Netherlands is something like minus twenty below sea level.  None of this set off alarm bells and off we went to hike to the practice area.  The practice area was a good hour and a half hike over rocks and along ledges that was really dangerous with sheer drops. At this point we realised they were lying about the equipment.  We had to carry our boots,crampons, ice pick and other equipment will hiking almost vertically uphill over icey rocks and they wouldn't let us put on the equipment until we reached the training point.  Jesus and rodger were wearing con like runners and were slipping all over the place. The guides just had a good laugh about this.

After an hour or two hiking with equipment on our backs  absolutely  sweating even though it was fucking freezing out we reached the training area.

I thought that since this was a vertical glacier of ice and a training area that they would at least have pins secured in the glacier and we would be roped together. Not in fucking Bolivia.  Bolivia have no search and rescue, they have no helicopters and the guides aren't trained in first aid or anything like that.

So they showed us how to put the crampons on once and generally had a good laugh at us stupid gringos. They then showed us how to walk up the glacier side ways in the crampons and how to walk up vertically and walk straight down the glacier. They made us wear a harness each but this was pointless because they didn't attach us to anything by rope even though they had fucking loads. They then showed us how to climb the glacier with just our ice pick (this was fairly dangerous because they only gave us one ice pick each).

This was all pretty dangerous but also a lot of fun and we hiked back to base camp one feeling good.  The guides still seemed a bit uninterested in our safety but we thought Hey how bad can the next day be.

The next day was supposed to be the easiest day and only hiking for three hours up to 5300m. This sounds grand unless you have actually been fairly high above sea level you wont completely understand the affects it can have on your body.

Anyway we set off in high spirits thinking it would be an easy day.  We left at about mid day and Again we had to carry all our stuff on our backs and werent aloud to put on our boots or crampons until we got past the hike over slippy icey rocks.  Again this was really dangerous and pretty much any wrong foot and your off to your death. As we were hiking a fog came in and it began to hail and snow. So there we were on the side of a mountain at nearly 5000m with our back packs in our back hiking vertically up a mountain and not able to see where we were going.   Eventually we put the gear on and began hiking through snow.

Here is where things got a bit mental.  I think the guide lost the path because of the fog and snow and we ended up hiking pretty much up vertically and everywhere you looked there was sheer drops but all you could concentrate on is where to put your foot next to make sure you don't slip or fall (keep in mind it was still snowing and we couldn't see very far ahead because of the fog).

The guides didn't really care and just kept shouting vamous a la playa and hey chicas grande titas at the top.  thinking this was hilarious which it was for five minutes then it got old.

Anyway I got really bad altitude sickness going up and was very dizzy. I also couldn't regulate my breathing to maximise the amount of oxygen I was getting.  This is fairly dangerous on the side of a mountain like this.  I can't explain how difficult it was to get to base camp two but to say it was the most mentally challenging thing I've ever done and one of the most physically challenging.  Every step required so much energy and having alltitude problems and not being able to breath made it one of the most intense situations I've ever been in.

Eventually I made it to base camp two and just fell on the snow. I was really dizzy and felt like shit.  Most of the other lads were also having altitude  problems. Two were sick and another was also really dizzy.

We arrived at five o clock and went to bed at seven because we had to get up at 2am to climb to the top. 

I thought it would be a good idea to take some valium to sleep. This is not a good idea at altitude because valium is a muscle relaxant, your heart is a muscle and actually needs to not be relaxed at high altitude because it has to pump faster to get more oxygen to the brain because the air is so thin. Anyway I never thought of this at the time but sure were all still alive so it's grand.

The next morning myself and Rodger decided not to go to the top. We had heard about a ridge at the top of compact snow with sheer drops on both sides that you have to walk along with one foot in front of the other for around twenty minutes. so we decided that the whole fucking thing was crazy dangerous and that we liked being alive. 

Jesus then decided at the last minute he wanted to try and get as far as the ridge and then rodger decided he would go as far as the ridge as well and then come back.

I then really wanted to give it ago but I was still dizzy and I knew if I couldn't get my breathing under control again then we would all have to turn back.  So I decided that I wouldn't go up plus I was dizzy and thought it was going to be crazy dangerous (which it was). So off Rodge and jesus went.  They made it another two or three hundred meters and then had to turn back because Rodger got really bad altitude sickness.

They banged on the shack that was base camp two door and said we could all go back down together.

This was really fucking dangerous as it was dark we couldnt see where we were going and the guide just kept laughing saying HEY GRINGO...YOU WANT YOUR MOMMY GRINGO.... This didn't fucking help at all since we were sliding all over the place coming down a fucking mountain.

Eventually we made it back to base camp one and none of us fell over the edge to our deaths and we all collapsed in the lodge and looked pitifully at the poor souls who had arrived full of life to try climb the mountain the next day.

Out of seven only two made it to the top and they said it was really dangerous getting there. 

Although this is probably the stupidest thing I've signed up to I don't regret it at all. It was an  experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. It has set the bar. I will forever compare everything to the mountain. Whenever I think something is tough or hard to do I will and have just thought at least I'm not on that fucking mountain!

Salta to Bolivia

So I partied in Buenos Aires for a week most of which I cant go into great detail about but lets just say I stayed in the millhouse hostel(anyone who has been to BA will know what that means). Here I met some cool people to party with but also some not so cool people. The hostel was full of English students on there gap year. If you watch the video below it will basically some up the type.

 Then then got an 18 hour night bus to salta a town in northern Argentina know for its amazing Scenery.when I got on the bus they played pitbull songs for two fucking hours.For some reason everywhere I go in SA they play fucking pitbull.
When I arrived in salta i booked into a hostel with an English couple Louis and holly I met on the bus. I also met a Scottish guy James who was travelling alone also.
Anyway booked into the hostel in salta and met a Dutch guy Rodger who is nineteen and also travelling alone ( although for some reason he lied to me about his age for a couple of days which I tell everyone new person we meet.) I did a tour here to a town called cachi that was really high up above sea level.i got to see amazing scenery on the way to the town but there was nothing much in the town but a graveyard which me and Rodger wandered around (for some reason graveyards are tourist attractions in south America).
That night me Rodger holly and louis got really drunk in the hostel kitchen on our own. I was leaving the next day to go to la quece the border town in Bolivia and holly and Louis were going to tilcarra but we wanted to try and meet in tupiza to do the salt flat tour. Rodger had been in salta for six days and anyone who has
been to salta knows six days in salta is way to many. So I said hey Rodge you can't be at that and he decided to cross the border with me into Bolivia then on to tupiza.
We were getting a night bus to the border so headed to the bus station at half twelve. Here I bumped into James the Scot I had met on the bus from BA to salta. He was with an Argentinean girl Geraldine who could speak fluent Spanish. We all hoped on the night bus together. The bus arrived at the border town a little early and it was fucking freezing.after putting on all my clothes we rocked into this weird little bus shelter full of tiny little Bolivian people and about ten other back packers. We all huddled together and decided to cross the border together as it was still night and safer to cross the border in a big group. We were all going to tupiza and it turned out many of the people I met here were going to become a permanent part of my travels for at least a couple of weeks.
We crossed the border into Bolivia all together and then me and Rodger got a taxi with a Scottish couple mark and Breda to tupiza. This taxi cost 200 Bolivinos so between four that was five euro each. Just to put that into context that was 250km for a fiver.
We were all going to the same hostel or hotel mitru in tupiza which cost a tenner a night (this is actually expensive for Bolivia) but we said feck it sure it'll be grand. We had planned to do the salt flat tour the next day but decided to give it a day because the altitude kind of hits you like a tone of bricks.
After checking in to the hostel I went straight to the pharmacy.In Bolivia you can pretty much buy any drugs over the counter so I stocked up on tablets for my stomach and bought shit loads of valium :-) although for some reason in Bolivia they won't sell you valium unless you buy other drugs first. Like everything else in Bolivia this makes no sense at all.
Next stop  the salt flat tours.

Things you can't be at in bus station....

Things you can't be at in a south American bus station is sleeping in one.

After missing the bus we decided to get the earliest bus to Flori which was seven in the morning. There was no point in heading into Sao Paulo to get somewhere to stay for the night because by the time we got into the city we would nearly have to leave again. Sao Paulo is the biggest city in SA I think. There's eleven million people living in the city and the traffic can apparently be mental in the mornings.

So we decided to check the internet for somewhere close to the bus station to go. So we headed into the internet cafe in the bus station. Here we bumped into this American back packer from California who was an absolute bitch. she was around thirty five and had coloured dred locks in her hair. She was one of those has been back packers who refused to help us earlier when we were trying to buy tickets to Flori. Anyway I really wanted to punch her in the face but didn't. And who the fuck has coloured dred locks nobody because its not the fucking eighties anymore.

Anyway we tried to find a place near by on the internet but couldn't so we went to the information desk and asked there.

The woman at the desk was a bit mental and sent us down some weird under pass to a place there was apparently accommodation. There wasn't any there but there was a group of dodgy men standing around who were shouting taxi who followed us and then some favela kids who were definitely going to try rob us. Anyway we looked onto the street down below and just seen loads of dodgy characters and one neon sign saying hotel. This was definitely not a hotel. It looked like somewhere smack heads hang out which it probably was since there was loads of smack heads hanging around outside.

We legged it back to the relative safety of the bus station and picked a spot to sleep. Markus slept on the floor but I couldn't sleep. There was this tiny little Bolivian man sitting near by who was sneaking around and rolling something on the ground which to be honest was probably his own teeth. I stayed awake so the little Bolivian wouldn't rob us but then I eventually drifted off to sleep for a couple mins.

The station then got really cold and filled with loads of other dodgy people. I woke up and spotted the little Bolivian knocking around still so we moved to the other side of the station.

Here I managed to sleep for a bit but every time I woke up the station had filled with more weirdos. Eventually seven o'clock rolled around and we ran down to jump on our 12 hour bus journey to Flori.

The bus journey obviously took longer then 12 hours because the bus driver again was picking up people and dropping old ladies to the front door. Bus drivers in Brazil are sound like that.

When we got to Flori we checked into the hostel over looking the beach and went to meet (Marion and Paul the couple I met in rio) for a few drinks and a table quiz.

The table quiz was in an English bar and was probably the worst table quiz I've ever been to.It was run by this English yuppee who asked pretentious questions like name Steffi graphs parents. Who the fuck knows the answer to that!

The beach at Flori itself was unreal but unfortunately there was no waves so I couldn't bang out my amazing surf skills. Instead
we went sand boarding which was really cool and a good bit of craic.

After Flori we jumped on a bus to iguazu falls then crossed the border into Argentina to see the falls. Crossing the border we met to English girls and Portuguese guy who were good craic so we all crossed the border into Argentina together.

After checking into the hostel we had a look around Puerto iguazu where at the time motofest was on so the town had loads of Brazilian motor cyclists driving around all but other then that the town was quiet.

Next day we went to iguazu falls which to be honest are probably one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. The sheer size and volume of water  that passes through the falls is incredible. We then did the boat trip under the falls which was incredible and you get completely soaked doing it but well worth it just to see an entire boat of people giggle and scream like school girls.

The next day myself and the norweign had to part ways because I was heading to Buenos Aires and markus was heading back to Rio.

Big shout out to markus it was greet craic travelling with you and best of look on your travels.Don't forgot I still want that barrel of oil when I get home. If you ever plan a trip to Ireland to see how the poor people live let me know and I'll show you around the mean streets of Dublin.

Next stop Buenos Aires....where everything got a little crazy.

Paraty to Sao Paulo bus station

So after leaving rio I decided to head to a small colonial town four hours away called Paraty.

I arrived in Paraty and rocked up to hostel where I met Paul and Marion the couple I met in Rio. After settling in we all rocked up to the bar which was on the beach. After a couple of minutes this Australian guy in his 40s joined us. The only way I can describe him is as one of the most annoying people I have ever met. He was biking across SA but had apparently also biked across every country in the world and he literally would not stop talking about him self.Its hard to explain how annoying he was but lets just say after about two minutes I wanted to shoot him in the face.

After a couple of minutes a norweign guy named markus joined us so I no longer had to listen to the annoying Ozzy.

After a couple of beers I explained to Markus the economic situation in Ireland and asked would he mind maybe giving us back our oil. He said that if I was stuck for a job I could come work in his norweign mansion because in Norway they employ people from poor countries just for the laugh.

He also bought me a beer and called it norweign guilt beer which was cool but I wasn't letting up on the oil thing. So he promised to send me a couple of barrels of oil whenever I got back to Ireland.

After a few more beers myself, markus Marion and Paul decided to go on a Jeep trip to see some waterfalls because lets face it everyone loves a good waterfall.

The next day we got in the Jeep which was apparently from the Korean war(this was definitively not true). The guide seemed like a nice guy but couldn't speak much English but did drive around for around an hour so I could get batteries for my camera.

Anyway we drove out into the Brazilian country side to the first waterfall. To reach the waterfall you had to cross a rope bridge so that was cool. It all seemed very tropical and sunny etc so I was happy enough. The waterfall it self was more like a downward bend in a river as apposed to an actual waterfall It was a cool place to get in for a swim though.

After a couple of minutes we moved on to the so called second waterfall which again not so much a waterfall fall more like water falong at a small incline over some rocks. This did have really large flat stones running down it to a pool at the bottom. The rocks were unbelievably slippy and you could slide down them which was good craic. The Brazilian guy working there could surf down the rocks and do really impressive tricks which was really cool.

After that we decided to give the tour a second chance until the guide decided to bring us to some weird hippy house in the jungle.

He brought us in to the house and said we could order food although to me it looked just like some ones house. They were all in the kitchen making a Salad and one women was breast feeding. It was all very strange and I don't really know what the whole thing was about. I'm pretty sure they were growing pot and making clothes out of plants and shit which they were trying to sell. Anyway we high tailed it out of their to the next waterfall.......

That again wasn't really a waterfall. There was water and I suppose technically it was falling but not much I've seen better water falling in the shower.

We were all fairly hungry so we didn't stay long and moved on to a kilo restaurant in the middle of know where. (a kilo restaurant is a restaurant that you pay for your food per kilo. Its like a buffet but they weigh your plate at the end. If your clever and don't put really heavy things on the plate you can eat cheaply. These restaurants are very popular in Brazil).

After food and a few beers the guide brought us to a beach and then just walked off and drove a long beside us at the edge of the beach as we walked along the beach.Again I'm not really sure what he was at. He was kind of mental. At the end of the beach you could jump into the sea and get covered in this weird mud that looked like oil which was cool.

After that we went back to the hostel to have beers again.I was due to check out the next day but decided to stay another night and do the boat trip to some Brazilian islands the next day with Marcus.

The boat trip was good and it brought us to some beeches and we seen some great views of Brazilian coast line. Although to be honest after the first one they all look the same. I do enjoy a good beach though.

On the boat trip we met a really cool couple Alex(from England) and Jane(from Canada). We ended up sitting with them the entire day on the deck of the boat having a few beers which continued on to beers on the beach outside the hostel.

The next day Marcus was supposed to be heading to ihla grande an island near rio famous for its beautiful beaches. Marcus had become somewhat obsessed with this island as he wanted to fulfil his life long dream of playing a pirate on a pirate island. It was the reason he spent weeks growing a pirate beard.

Anyway I suggested that he should come to florinopolis with me and after a few beers we had set a plan to head to Flori then into Argentina to iguazu falls. We legged it down to the bus station to book our tickets to Sao Paulo so we could get a night bus to Flori.  Sao Paulo is apparently the biggest bus station in the world although I'm not sure I believe that.

We hopped on the bus that was half an hour late and hoped we would make it to Sao Paulo bus station before half eleven at night to make the night bus to Flori....what could possibly go wrong you say...a lot..lots of things could go wrong and did go wrong.

In Brazil it seems they are not really big on time keeping.They're a very relaxed nation of people who are extremely friendly but not the best at being on time. Firstly the bus was half an hour late so we were cutting it fine already. Then it looked like the bus driver started dropping people off to their houses and taking de tours all over the place.

We made it to the Sao Paulo bus terminal with around two minutes to spare and legged it through the bus terminal to try jump on the last bus to Flori although ironically this seems to be the only bus in Brazil that leaves on time. When we reached the departure area at two minutes past half the bus had gone... Resulting in what lead to myself and markus spending a night from hell in Sao Paulo bus station.

Things you can't be at in a favela

So I decided I'd get a favela tour because a few other people in the hostel were going on one so I thought feck it sure might as well.

The government in Brazil started pacification of the favelas to try tackle the crime rates in Rio a couple of years ago. This basically means they went in with loads of guns and tried to kill or remove the drug lords and gangs controlling them. The pacification of most of the favelas has been relatively successful to date leaving them a much safer place.

Anyway I went on the tour with about ten other people in a mini van. The favelas themselves are exactly what you would expect, tiny narrow streets with houses literally stacked on top of each other. The conditions seem fairly poor but the people seem really nice. Many of the people living there also work in little shops in the favelas themselves so they never really have to leave them.

The guide brought us down into the middle of Rio's biggest favela and showed us some gang markings and really dark narrow streets which seemed dodgy. He also showed us markings on the buildings that meant you could buy drugs there.(you can buy most drugs except crack cocaine.Apparently the drug lords think selling craic is taking it one step to far).

The guide then also said that if we were there to buy drugs he would leave us in the flavela to fend for ourselves which was nice of him.

He also said not to take to many pictures because the gangs and drug lords don't like journalist and might think you are one. For that reason I don't have any plus I think its not very nice to take pictures of poor people because they are poor.

Anyway that was not the general consensus of the group. There was one or two who had outrageously expensive cameras and were taking pictures of all kinds of mental shit like telephone cables. At one stage we nearly lost the guide because this English one with a massive camera had to get a picture of some fucking telephone cables. I said eh you can't be at that where the fuck is the guide gone if we lose him were all going to die here.So I pushed here and her stupid pretentious camera out of the way and legged it after the guide (only part of this might be true).

Eventually I manged to safely direct the tour groupback to the guide who was leaning against a wall a few hundred meters ahead smoking a cigar saying ehy you stupid criiingo why you not follow (also possibly not true).

He then told us about this cool project the government started in the favela. They built a massive sports centre with free membership for the people living in the favela but only if they enrol their children in school. The kids here love football and having access to this encourages them to go to school.

Things you cannot be at in a favela.

1.don't go on a tour there and try to buy drugs .The guide will leave you there and you will get shot. Sure you can't be at that lads!

2. Don't be a knob head tourist and bring a camera worth about a grand.Do what I did and bring a shit pink camera that nobody would rob and if they did well jokes on them cause the camera is fucking pink!

3. Don't take pictures of crap you can see at home. We've all seen telephone wires tangled together.Anyone over the age of sixteen will remember trying to untangle a load of it to connect the bloody internet.Again you can't be at that!

4. Don't stop to take pictures of crap when the guide said don't take pictures here..the gangs don't like it. Seriously what was her problem..I told her here you can't be at that!

5. Don't wear flip flops to a favela. There is rubbish everywhere and chickens and dogs and then more chickens.

6.Don't be an arsehole and start throwing money at the poor kids.you might think your helping but your not your just being a pretentious arsehole.

7. Maybe don't do a tour in general. These people are poor and are trying to live.Although some of the money you pay for the tour goes into helping them maybe just donate it to charities set up to help or go volunteer. Don't go in and stare at them and take pictures of them just because they are poor.

On an unrelated note that night I went out to a samba bar with a few people.On the way there myself and one of the other lads got jumped by a prostitute who tried to rob me.So I said here you prostitute....YOU CAN'T BE AT THAT!

Super Jesus and the Sugar Loaf

I made it to Rio alive in one piece. The flight was twelve hours  and I had nobody sitting beside me  on the plane so I made a bed out of three seats and slept for a lot of the flight.

I landed in Rio at nine o clock and walked out to meet my English speaking driver who brought me back to the hostel. In the hostel I was put in a nine bed dorm room on my own which I wasn't that happy about. The hostel was having a barbecue when I arrived so I rocked on down to eat and bumped into an Irish girl and Scottish guy who had been travelling around SA for a couple of months. I also met an English couple who had spent the last five months travelling and were going home in two days. After a few drinks myself, the Irish and the Scot decided that the next day we would go visit Christ the Redeemer and the sugar loaf mountain.

The following day after an amazing breakfast in the hostel we rocked up to see Christ the Redeemer.Re The statue itself is easy enough to get to by bus and you do not need to book a tour to see it as this costs a lot of money.

After you get the bus you then get a really slow train up the mountain to the statue. This is actually fairly cool and they have a samba band on the train so its a bit of craic.

The statue itself is grand but to be honest its just a really big statue of Jesus so if your into giant statues of Jesus then go for it and have an auld pray inside him while your there. Not really my idea of fun  but sure each to their own and all that. I kept imagining the giant statue shooting laser beams out of its eyes which would be really cool and make it worth the money you pay to get up to it.

The main reason to go up to the statue other then to see if it actually can shoot laser beams out of its eyes is for the views. The views of Rio from the top on a clear day are second to none. They will literally leave you thinking that the people who live here are the luckiest in the world to live in such a beautiful place.

Anyway after a couple of minutes of looking at super Jesus we left and went to the sugar loaf to catch the sunset.

To get up to the top of the Sugar Loaf you get two cable cars which are pretty cool and you get loads of amazing views of the city again. At the top you watch the sun descend rapidly behind the mountain leaving an orange glimmer that lingers around the mountain tops illuminating the mist and the city in a fiery haze.

Its worth hanging on a while to watch the city light up as well as the flavelas scattered around the mountain tops.

Then high tail out of there because if you hang around anywhere in the dark in Rio you will probably get robbed and that would be no craic at all.

Things you cannot be at

1.Don't get a tour up to Christ and the Sugar Loaf. You can get buses and the subway to each. To get into both is expensive enough without paying for a tour.

2. Don't go to the sugar loaf during the day. Its best to see this at night.

3. Don't wear flashy jewelery and don't bring your brand new i pad. Rio is not as dangerous as everyone thinks but don't make yourself stand out.

The road to Rio

Well I'm off to Rio to have the craic and decided to keep a travel blog so I can remember exactly what happened along the way and to try make people feel bad about their lives at home.

The flight tomorrow is around twelve hours from Heathrow so I should land in Rio at nine o'clock their time so one o'clock in the morning Irish time.

I'll try keep this updated to let people know I'm not dead and so people can see what I'm at. I'll also try give as much information as possible for anyone who might be thinking of going to
South America themselves.

all the best